FTA: State officials denied retaliation. A termination document said that Hedlund made "negative and disrespectful" comments in emails about DCI Director Chari Paulson, addressed her disrespectfully during a conference call, and drove his vehicle on a vacation day. It noted he had no prior discipline.

"Sure, he's gone 25 years without a single disciplinary incident, but, somehow, we fired him because he was pissed at being told that the law doesn't really apply to the rich and powerful - oh, and he drove his vehicle on a vacation day. But, no, his abrupt termination had nothing to do with the fact that he dared to speak against the rich and powerful."

Terry's no slouch when it comes to nepotism and being "above the law". In 1991 his son killed two people in a traffic accident. It was readily apparent to a range of witnesses that he was driving drunk; he received only a simple $15 traffic ticket. That's not the only time his son received leniency for delinquent actions, but it's the most egregious. Iowa's long, sad history of "good ol' boy" law enforcement plays a big part in that. There's no county mountie in the state that would dare ticket ol' Braindead or his clan.

Only in America does a cop get fired for doing his f%$#ing job. And people wonder why we have a problem with law enforcement officials. You can't have a good police force IF YOU FIRE ALL THE NON-CORRUPT COPS.

Reading the news shouldn't make me feel like Lewis Black after four pots of coffee.

Vkingbanna:I've played quite a bit of Spades.Never heard of 'Boston'.Or partnerships. Everybody was out for themselves.

Must be a NYC variant we play. Bid Boston for all tricks, bid nil for taking no tricks at all. minus 100 for failing to make the bid, and minus 10 for each trick over the bid, plus 2 against 2 partnerships.

simplicimus:Must be a NYC variant we play. Bid Boston for all tricks, bid nil for taking no tricks at all. minus 100 for failing to make the bid, and minus 10 for each trick over the bid, plus 2 against 2 partnerships.

Might be a New York State or north eastern thing, my family in upstate plays close to what you describe for spades. However instead of -10 for tricks over bid they do the military spades 'bags' counter for over your bid, each trick over bid adds 1 'point' to your total called a bag, at 10 'bags' you drop 100 points.

simplicimus:Vkingbanna: I've played quite a bit of Spades.Never heard of 'Boston'.Or partnerships. Everybody was out for themselves.

Must be a NYC variant we play. Bid Boston for all tricks, bid nil for taking no tricks at all. minus 100 for failing to make the bid, and minus 10 for each trick over the bid, plus 2 against 2 partnerships.

mccallcl:So a cop has a trumped-up charge leveled against him, ruining his life for "forgetting his place"? Oh, the delicious irony!

Normally I would be right there with you, but this situation is the exact opposite of what I want to see. Good cops getting fired for doing the right thing while asshole pigs get "paid administrative leave" for excessive force and what amounts to murder? This is bullshiat. If I were this cop, I would probably go out like Dorner.

SurelyShirley:bdub77: Something is wrong in this country when stuff like this happens. I mean seriously what does a politician have to do to get arrested or reprimanded? Literally kill a baby on national television?

We call it 'shooting the moon' instead of Boston. The counterpart is 'nil', in which I bid I can take no tricks on purpose, and the fairly rare 'blind nil', in which I bid I can do that without looking at the cards first.

When we played teams we bid for our separate play, though, not for the team. So one partner could blind nil and the other could shoot the moon. Which we did occasionally, because we had a set of signals that mortal men could not spot.

Played a lot of spades in the Army. We called it 'going Boston'. Confused the hell out of me the first few times until I figured out how to play the game. Actually pulled it off a couple of times, but never, ever team up with the dick Corporal from the other squad who will drop your ass for push-ups if you don't make your bid. It's kind of difficult to play from the front leaning rest.